Reference no: EM133139587

Kasturi has founded a start-up named " BlueBus " to provide an online platform for Booking Bus tickets on various routes across the country run by both private and public bus operators Presently the company has around 100 employees. The start-up has made good progress especially after COVID norms were relaxed after the second wave. However, a number of established travel brands such as MMT, IRCTC has also started booking bus tickets and others too are gearing up to start this service. With the resulting competitive pricing the operating margins have come under increasing pressure The company has number of software engineers to continuously upgrade the software to match the latest payment and ticketing processes In a recent trend , the older travel and tourism companies have started attracting employees from startups such as BlueBus to expand their businessBlueBus has employed an HR professional , Mithilesh to facilitate acquisition , training and retention of employees considered critical for continuing success of the company Anticipating loss of critical employees to older travel companies , Kasturi discussed the issue of possible attrition with Mithilesh who suggested that company needs to retain on the basis of attractive training and development package rather than merely on lucrative pay As a result company has come up with policy of offering paid leave for up to one month in a calendar year to employees wanting to upgrade their skills in domains specified by the company However the tuition fee for the selected training program will have be borne by the individual employee . This program gave encouraging results as people have opted for requisite skill up-gradation and no attrition has taken place Mr. Ratan, who is a software engineer specializing in payment platforms, requested leave for two months for a longer training program at a premium institute. He also requested assistance to the tune of 50 percent of the tuition fee. The VP of Operations while noting that the program is likely to be useful for the company, has refused the request since the request does not conform to laid down policy Mr. Ratan has appealed to the appellate authority, ie CEO, through the HR Department In place of Mithilesh, the HR Head, prepare a note for Kasturi.

1. What is your perception of the problem?

2. What are the options, their implications, and the option recommended?